Internal Medicine
Online ISSN : 1349-7235
Print ISSN : 0918-2918
ISSN-L : 0918-2918
ORIGINAL ARTICLES
Risk Factors for Liver Injury with an Elevated Serum Bilirubin Concentration Caused by Antituberculous Drugs
Hideaki KatoNobuyuki HoritaNaoki MiyazawaTakashi YoshiyamaAtsuhisa UedaYoshiaki Ishigatsubo
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JOURNAL OPEN ACCESS

2013 Volume 52 Issue 19 Pages 2209-2214

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Abstract

Objective No studies have so far sufficiently investigated the risk factors for drug-induced liver injury (DILI) with an elevated serum bilirubin concentration.
Methods We conducted a historical cohort study observing inpatients admitted to two hospitals in Japan. A decreased level of activities of daily living (ADL) was defined as a Barthel Index score of <80. The patients were treated with standard regimens under a directly observed treatment short-course strategy.
Results The cohort of 356 patients comprised 244 men (68.5%) and 112 women (31.5%), with a mean age of 63.8±20.2 years. Compared with the patients who did not experience DILI with a bilirubin level of ≥2.0 mg/dL, the patients who experienced DILI with a bilirubin level of ≥2.0 mg/dL more often had a decreased level of ADLs, were more likely to suffer from chronic cardiac disease, had lower serum albumin levels and were less often treated with four-drug regimens involving pyrazinamide (PZA). In a logistic regression analysis in which these five factors acted as independent variables, a decreased level of ADLs was the strongest predictor for DILI with a bilirubin level of ≥2.0 mg/dL, with an odds ratio of 16.5 (95%CI: 1.7-159; p=0.015), followed by chronic cardiac disease, with an odds ratio of 4.0 (95%CI: 1.2-12.6; p=0.020).
Conclusion A decreased level of ADLs and chronic cardiac disease are strong risk factors for DILI with a bilirubin level of ≥2.0 mg/dL resulting from the use of antituberculous drugs. Physicians should pay close attention to the possibility of DILI with a bilirubin level of ≥2.0 mg/dL when treating tuberculosis patients with a decreased level of ADLs and/or chronic heart disease.

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© 2013 by The Japanese Society of Internal Medicine
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